It’s all change on the Meteor Choice Music Award front – yes, they’ve acquired themselves a sponsor – with the showpiece event to select the Irish Album of the Year taking place on March 8 in the new setting of the Dublin Olympia.
The nominees for the seventh annual prize will be announced on January 12 and then scrutinised to within an inch of their lives by the panel of music industry experts chaired by respected journalist (no, it’s not an oxymoron!) Tony Clayton-Lea).
They’ll all be hoping to land the €10,000 cheque, which comes courtesy of IMRO and IRMA.
If you can’t make the Olympia show, fear not, as Today FM’s Paul McLoone Show will be broadcasting live from the event.

As a prequel, the Meteor Choice Music Prize is staging An Evening With Snow Patrol on November 1 in the Button Factory. Along with an intimate acoustic set, keyboard-man Tom Simpson will be playing a DJ set and Hot Press’ Stuart Clark who’s known the band since their toilet circuit days will publicly interview Gary Lightbody.
[link]www.facebook.com/meteor[/link] has details of how Meteor customers can get their paws on free tickets.